


The Curious Case of Steve Rogers

by this_wayward_life



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes as Captain America, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Crack, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gay Bucky Barnes, Happy Ending, Jewish Bucky Barnes, M/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/OMCs, Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Canon Compliant, POV Outsider, Steve Rogers as the Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23064829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/this_wayward_life/pseuds/this_wayward_life
Summary: Steve Rogers is not who anyone expects him to be.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 25
Kudos: 489
Collections: impravidus's favorite fics





	The Curious Case of Steve Rogers

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Seven times Steve Rogers was not what everyone expected him to be (+1 time he really, really wasn't what everyone expected him to be)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18258299) by [StuckySituation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StuckySituation/pseuds/StuckySituation). 



> This was inspired by _Seven times Steve Rogers was not what everyone expected him to be +1 time he really, really wasn't what everyone expected him to be_ and I wanted to write a Bucky!Cap/WS!Steve so here we are.

Steve Rogers is nothing like Maria expected him to be.

When she got a call at one in the morning, saying that SHIELD had found Captain America buried in the ice and that _he was still alive_ , she'd ditched the lovely spa weekend she'd planned with her mother to fly to New York immediately, getting there just as Rogers slammed out of the room they were keeping him in, minus one arm and completely hysterical. When he finally managed to calm down (or maybe he just went into shock, Maria wasn't completely sure yet) Maria realised that he looked very different from what she'd learned growing up.

For one, his hair was a dark brown, and his eyes were more grey than blue. He was probably about five foot ten and was much leaner than Maria would have imagined. His eyes darted everywhere, and his hand kept coming up to rub at the stump of his arm, which was covered in bandages. The dog tags around his neck held a small pendant in the shape of a menorah.

Maria wondered why the history books had completely changed Rogers' appearance. Was it because they wanted a perfect Aryan Captain America? A Jewish Captain America would have been frowned upon, Maria supposed, and there were very few pictures of the Captain to begin with. Maybe it was easier to shape him into a symbol instead of a real person.

Maria had the job of escorting Rogers to the SHIELD headquarters at the Triskelion, which involved a quinjet that Rogers stared at with wide eyes and white-knuckled his way through the whole journey.

"I'm dreaming," he said faintly. "I'm still in the ice. It's still 1945. Pegs and Howard are still looking for me. Nobody knows that I'm not really-" He cut off, and buried his face in his hand. 

"Captain Rogers," Maria said kindly, laying a hand on his knee. He was still wearing the khakis and fake SSR shirt he was dressed in while unconscious. "I know that this is hard. We'll let you get some sleep, then we'll have some specialists brief you on everything you've missed."

Rogers looked up at her, eyes red-rimmed. "Did they find the body?"

Maria blinked. "What body?"

"The body at the bottom of the Alps."

_("Bucky!"_

_Steve leaned out of the train, fingers grasping at thin air. Bucky clung to the side, the bar creaking under his hands, and reached out for his love. Steve's eyes were wild, his hair flying everywhere in the wind. The bar dipped, and Steve lunged just as it disconnected from the side of the train._

_Bucky was suspended in air, just for a second, before warm, familiar arms enveloped him. He was falling, they were both falling, and Steve's arms were wrapped around him, and Bucky had a split second to realise what Steve had done, that he'd jumped after Bucky, before Steve flung him with all his might, back towards the train. Bucky crashed into the opposite wall of the carriage, the wind being knocked out of him. The shield was laying next to him._

_Bucky crawled back to the hole blasted in the train and looked out frantically. All he could see was rocks and ice. Bucky pressed his forehead to the floor and screamed.)_

"We never found a body in the Alps," Maria said, frowning. "Not now, and not in 1945 either. Who was it?"

Rogers turned away, but not before Maria saw tears in his eyes, dripping onto his cheeks.

\-------

Natasha had barely known Steve Rogers an hour, but she already respected the hell out of him.

According to Coulson, he'd flat-out refused to wear the costume (because that was what it was - a costume, with no real protection) made for him, and instead raided the STRIKE team's locker room and came out wearing all black Kevlar, with lace-up boots and the left arm ripped off to show off his brand-new metal arm, courtesy of Stark Industries. The only part of the original uniform he'd kept was the shield harness, which he'd run his fingers over with an unreadable expression before looping it over his shoulders.

Natasha managed to intercept him after Loki's escape from the helicarrier, in one of the many spare rooms the helicarrier had. Clint had managed to fall asleep, after hours of tossing and turning and trying to flush Loki's magic out of his system, and she needed a drink. Preferably vodka, but she wasn't picky. 

In the three months Steve had been out of the ice, he'd grown his hair out, and it curled around his jawline in soft brown waves. Sitting next to him, Natasha wordlessly held out a hair tie, and he took it with a murmured thanks. 

"Clint's almost back together," she said quietly. "I'd say that he'll be ready to leave within the hour."

"Good," Steve murmured. He wasn't looking at her - instead, he was holding a photograph, browned and old. It showed two boys who couldn't have been older than sixteen, one brunette and the other blonde, with their arms around each other and laughing. The blonde was tiny; much smaller than his companion, but just from the photo Natasha could see that his presence was much larger than his appearance. The brunette was looking at him like he'd hung the moon and breathed life into the Sun.

"Who's that?" she asked gently. Steve smiled, but it wasn't a happy one.

"My everything. The only person I've ever cared about enough to want to die when they die."

Natasha watched him. "You never wanted to survive that plane crash, did you?"

"Why bother?" Steve laughed bitterly. "My heart was already dead."

\------

_("Sergeant Barnes, are you there? Sarge, come in-"_

_"James? James, are you alright? What's going on?"_

_The controls were cold under Bucky's hands, the wind whistling through the broken side of the plane racing through him and leaving him breathless._

_"Pegs, Schmidt's dead." His voice was hollow, even to his own ears._

_"What about the plane?"_

_Bucky didn't answer._

_"James Barnes, don't you dare do what I think you're going to do-"_

_"I'm already dead, Peggy," Bucky said quietly. "Everyone thinks I'm already dead. Everyone thinks it's my body lying in a chasm in Switzerland, not-" He cut himself off, feeling a sob building in his throat._

_"We can work this out, we have time," Peggy pleaded. "Please, Bucky, he wouldn't want this for you."_

_"I'll see him again soon," Bucky murmured, almost to himself._

_"Don't you dare crash that plane, James, don't you dare-"_

_"A hero's death, right?' Bucky spoke over her. "That's what he deserves. That's what my Stevie deserves. This isn't just about me. If this thing gets to New York, you know what'll happen."_

_Peggy was quiet for a moment. "I can't lose you, too. You're my best friend."_

_"I know, Peg." Bucky's eyes were burning. The ocean was close. "I'll miss you. Tell the Howlies I'll miss them too, okay?"_

_"We'll look for you. We won't stop looking for you."_

_"Everyone thinks I'm Steve, I know. The good old United States wouldn't want their super soldier's corpse anywhere but on their soil."_

_"Say hello to him when you see him, okay?" Peggy's voice cracked, and Bucky closed his eyes._

_"Peggy, tell Becca-"_

_The ocean slammed into him.)_

\-----

The first time it happened, Tony chalked it up to a hallucination caused by another all-nighter. He walked into the common room one morning for a refill of coffee and a break from his newest invention and saw a very large, blonde man wearing just a pair of boxers sipping coffee from Natasha's favourite cup. His hair was messed, his lips were swollen, and there were hickeys all over the top half of his body. Tony looked at him for a moment, then turned and walked right back out.

At least once a month after that, Tony would go into the common room in the morning to find a large, blonde man with blue eyes drinking coffee, eating toast, or, on one memorable occasion, sitting on the couch with a blanket over his legs, clearly getting his dick sucked. It didn't take long for Tony to realise who these strange, blonde men all belonged to, and he realised when he walked in one morning to find Rogers pressed against the fridge by (you guessed it) a tall, blonde man, locked at the lips and paying no attention to Bruce, who was trying to get the almond milk. 

Clearly the good Captain had a type.

\------

It took about ten minutes after meeting for Clint and Steve to become absolute best friends. Clint had originally been sceptical of the Captain, especially from all the propaganda spread by the government. He'd expected a straight-laced, stuck-up prick who was probably homophobic, misogynistic and racist, but instead, Clint learned that not only was Steve about as straight as a rainbow, he'd also punched Brock Rumlow in the face after Rumlow had made a comment about Natasha not being good enough for the Avengers or SHIELD 'because she's a woman'. That wasn't the only time Steve had punched Brock Rumlow in the face, and Clint was pretty sure that if he wasn't married to the most amazing and terrifying woman on the planet, he'd be in love with Steve.

"Clint!" Steve hollered from the couch. "This guy on Grindr wants to pull my hair as I suck on his cock. Is that good for it, or should I invest in some strengthening conditioner?"

Tony, from the coffee maker, choked.

"Dude, you're a supersoldier," Clint yelled back, not taking his eyes off the Mariokart game he was getting absolutely smashed in by Rhodey, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "Your hair will be fine!"

"Absolutely not!" Natasha objected. She was painting her nails a red that matched her hair. "Haircare is a top priority when you're getting it pulled on the regular. Get the conditioner." She offered the nail polish to Steve, who held out his hand without looking up from his phone. She pounced on his nails with the same kind of maniacal glee that Clint had only seen in her bastard cat whenever Liho sees unprotected ankles. Tony just watched in combined awe and horror. Clint snickered, then groaned as Rhodey blue-shelled him. Fuck Mario, and fuck James Rhodes.

\------

Lillian never thought that she'd get to meet Steve Rogers in real life. Sure, they both worked for SHIELD, but they were miles apart. She was in accounting, for Christ's sake. He was _Captain America_. And when he'd walked into her office that day with a painful smile on his face, all she could think about was the fact that she'd masturbated to a picture of him after the Battle of New York the night before. She squeaked.

"You're Lillian, right?" Steve freakin' Rogers asked, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his head. He had such nice hair... maybe after Lillian had ridden his face she'd ask about his conditioner.

"That's me," she finally said, and he smiled again. 

"My friend Natasha sent me up here. Said you might be able to help me with something."

He looked shifty, his face flushed, and Lillian slowly realised that this might be his way of... Flirting? Something like that. Natasha Romanov was infamous for her matchmaking. Lillian twirled a lock of hair between her fingers and looked up at him through her eyelashes, leaning forward slightly to give him a glimpse of her cleavage. For some reason, Steve didn't even look.

"What do you need my help with?" she purred, and Steve turned bright red.

"Natasha told me that you run a knitting club," he finally blurted out. Lillian blinked. That was not what she had expected. "I... I like making things. And I was just wondering, if, y'know, you had room, if I could come to a session or two?"

Lillian looked at him, completely gobsmacked. "I, uh, sure," she finally stammered. "We, uh, we meet every Wednesday at my place. I can email you the address?"

Steve Rogers beamed at her, and she felt her face go bright red. He was just so damn cute, it shouldn't be legal. "That'd be great."

"I thought you came up here to get in my pants," she finally blurted out, then turned bright red. Steve giggled - yes, he actually giggled, America's golden boy just giggled like a schoolgirl and it was adorable - and shook his head.

"I, uh, sorry. I'm gay," he said. Lillian groaned and knocked her head against her desk.

"So I have no chance with you?" she whined, and Steve shook his head, still with that little grin on his face. "What about Romanov? Is she single?"

"She's married," Steve said, and Lillian put her head back on the table.

\--------

Sharon had been living next door to Captain Rogers for six months now, and she was almost certain he knew that she wasn't who she said she was.

The first time they'd met, she'd been in her scrubs and changed her personality to fit a bubbly, sweet nurse. Rogers had smiled politely at her, then went into his apartment. The next day he'd made her cupcakes with little shields on them, and she'd cursed quietly. He definitely knew who she was.

He didn't seem to mind, though - as long as Sharon stayed out of his way whenever he brought his hookups over. One time of walking in on Captain America taking it up the ass from a beefy blonde jock because their screams had been so loud she'd thought someone was getting murdered had been one time too many. Steve was delighted with this, considering that every time he brought up a potential one night stand she blushed to the tip of her roots. Jeez, Sharon may have been a professional, but she also had eyes. And an active libido.

Steve occasionally invited her over for coffee. Sometimes they talked and pretended that Sharon wasn't there to spy on him. Other times they just sat in comfortable silence. Sharon introduced Steve to Golden Girls, and he'd become obsessed.

So that night when Sharon was polishing some knives at the kitchen table and heard gunshots from next door, she was out the door with a semi-automatic in a flash, suddenly consumed with worry.

Steve was kneeling on the floor, his shield next to him. On the floor was Nick Fury, bleeding out.

"What happened?" Sharon asked in shock, pulling her walkie-talkie out of her pyjama pocket.

"Assassin," Steve replied, looking shell-shocked. "Got Fury through the window."

Sharon called it in, and before she could stop him, Steve was grabbing his shield and jumping out of the goddamned window and into the building next door. Sharon caught a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye, and saw a man on the roof, running away. She saw the star on his arm.

"Command, this is Agent 13. Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMT's, and Agents Maria Hill and Natasha Romanov. The Winter Soldier is here."

\-----

Sam had his day all planned out. Go for a run, make some eggs, go to work, watch Top Gun (Riley's favourite movie), order takeout, and go to sleep crying and holding the framed photograph of his and Riley's wedding that he kept on his bedside table. But his lovely plans were thrown out the window when Steve goddamn Rogers with his lovely brown hair straggly around his face and lovely symmetrical face blood-streaked and dirty turned up on his doorstep, an equally blood-streaked and dirty redhead standing beside him.

"The government wants to fuck us up," he said as greeting. "Can we chill here?"

Sam held the door open, too perplexed to argue. Steve patted his cheek on the way through, and the pretty redhead raised an eyebrow, looking him over.

"This isn't your usual type, Steve," she said lightly, and Steve groaned.

"He's a friend, Nat, not a fuck buddy. You really think I trust any of those guys?"

"You let them near your ass," she shrugged.

"Sex is different, and you know it," Steve retorted.

"Do y'all wanna clean up or something?" Sam finally said weakly. Steve grinned at him and motioned for the redhead to follow him. She grabbed the carton of orange juice from the counter and disappeared after Steve. Sam just watched in shock.

"Make pancakes!" Sam heard her shout. At least he had something to do now.

\------

_("Steve? Stevie, is that you?"_

_He took another step towards the Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier, with his shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes and god, it wasn't the Winter Soldier, it was Steve-_

_"Baby, baby it's me." Bucky took another step forward. "It's Bucky."_

_Steve glared at him, and pulled a gun out of his vest. "Who the hell is Bucky?"_

_Bucky would have let the bullet pierce his skull if Sam hadn't slammed Steve into the ground before he shot.)_

"Why didn't you tell us?" Natasha asked gently. Steve - no, it wasn't Steve Rogers, it was _Bucky Barnes_ \- smiled grimly, his face twisting. There were tears in his eyes.

"I wanted to keep his memory alive," he finally whispered. "Nobody knew it wasn't me who fell in the Alps. They all thought that Steve crashed the Valkyrie, and Pegs never corrected them. She thought it'd be easier to find me if people thought they were looking for Captain America. And nobody really knew what Stevie looked like when they dug me up. It was easier to pretend."

"And the Winter Soldier is the real Steve Rogers?" Fury asked, his eyebrow raised. "Captain America is working for Hydra?"

Bucky suddenly slammed his hands on the table, his expression furious. "He would never work for Hydra of his own free will! He didn't even know who I was! He didn't know who _he_ was!"

Bucky's eyes filled with tears, and he collapsed back into his seat and put his head in his hands, muffled sobs escaping him as his shoulders shook. Natasha moved to rest a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged her off and stood up, wiping at his face.

"I'm saving Stevie. With or without your help," he snarled, and stalked out of the room. Sam shrugged at Natasha, and followed him. Sam would know more about dealing with this than Natasha. 

\------

Captain America and the Winter Soldier were found on the shore of the Potomac. Bucky was unconscious, his right arm at an unnatural angle and blood seeping from bullet wounds to his abdomen and thigh. The Winter Soldier - Steve - was sitting with Bucky's head in his lap, stroking one large hand through Bucky's hair. When Sam approached, Steve whipped a gun out of nowhere and pointed it at him, a snarl on his face.

"Leave."

"Bucky needs help."

The safety was flicked off. "Leave."

"Do you want him to die?" Sam snapped. "He's my friend too, Rogers."

Steve twitched at the sound of his name, but he did lower the gun. Sam motioned for the EMTs to get closer, but Steve immediately tensed up again. "They need to get him to a hospital, Steve."

"I'm not leaving him," Steve rasped. His voice was so croaky. When was the last time he'd actually used it?

"That's fine. We just need to get him out of here," Sam said patiently. Steve hesitated.

"I'm carrying him," he finally said.

"You sure? It'd be easier if they wheeled him out."

Steve glared. "They will not touch him."

Sam held his hands up placatingly, and watched as the Winter Soldier ever-so-gently scooped the unconscious man into his arms and kissed the side of his head, then followed them with his head held high.

\-------

Bucky opened his eyes to the sound of soft humming and the feeling of fingers stroking through his hair. His cheek was pressed against something rough and slightly damp, and when he opened his eyes he realised it was someone's thigh, still encased in bloodstained black Kevlar.

"Stevie?" he slurred out, and the voice quietened. Then he felt lips brushing across his cheek, and he melted into it.

"Babydoll," Steve murmured, and his lips brushed Bucky's skin again.

"Stevie," Bucky said again, trying to reach up and pull Steve down closer. Steve seemed to realise what he wanted because Bucky was suddenly encased in warm, thick arms and pressed against a hard chest. He snuggled in closer, not caring that Steve was still in his uniform and that the buckles of the vest weren't very comfortable to rest his head on, and kissed Steve's neck. He was so sore, so tired... Bucky thought that he might sleep for a while.

"You'll keep me safe, right, sunshine?" he whispered. Steve tilted his head up and slotted their lips together for the first time since 1945, and Bucky melted. There were tears in his eyes when Steve pulled away. He looked so different from what Bucky remembered - his body was even bigger than before, his arms like battering rams and legs like tree trunks. His body rippled with muscle, but Bucky could feel even through the uniform how thin he was. He was so malnourished, so unkempt... Bucky's heart broke for him. He brushed a lock of hair out of Steve's eyes and tucked it behind his ear, and Steve's face softened even more.

"I'll always keep you safe, sweetheart," Steve rumbled. Bucky leaned up to kiss him one more time, then tucked his head into the crook of Steve's neck, not caring that he smelled like burning Helicarrier and sweat, and fell asleep easier than he had in seventy years.

**Author's Note:**

> I should really be working on my WIPs lmao


End file.
